Mother May I
by The Escaped
Summary: It started slowly, so slowly that he didn't notice its beginning. A response to the prompt "The first time Tobe calls Kel "mother" and her reaction". Image credit to Minuiko.


_I bet you thought that this would be another chapter of Teaching Discipline, didn't you? Haha, sorry. But tamorapierceprompts on tumblr had this and I had to run with it. _

_The prompt runs "__The first time Tobe calls Kel "mother" and her reaction." As someone pointed out, he did in the book, but don't worry, I wrote one anyway. __. _

_See you soon with the final chapters of Teaching Discipline!_

It started slowly, so slowly that he didn't notice its beginning.

Maybe it had been on the long way north, when he was still wary of getting within hitting distance of anyone strong enough to stop Alvik mid-swing, and she frowned at his plate. Tobe went still, trying to think of what he could have done to make her angry, when she reached over and ladled more vegetables on his plate. Sir Nealan watched from across the fire and smirked. "And so it begins," he called.

"You, quiet," she told the knight, then to him, "You, eat."

The word 'mother' popped into Tobe's head then. And there it stuck, putting out more roots each time she helped him with spearwork or wrestled him into writing lessons, until the word was completely tied in with his image of the Lady Keladry and he couldn't untangle them.

It became his most closely-guarded secret. For one, it wasn't proper. Tobe had ears, he'd picked up enough gossip to know that Lady Keladry (mother) had been talked about, the same way he'd been talked about around the inn by Alvik. Tobe wasn't about to make things harder for her, not after everything she'd done for him.

More secretly though, so secret that he didn't even acknowledge it himself, was the fear that she would be…mad, he guessed. Or embarrassed. Watching Lady Kel, he saw how kind she was, how she would help everybody because that was what she _did_. What she'd done for Tobe was nothing special.

There was no harm in pretending though, he reasoned one day, watching with Loey and Gydo as she made her na-gi-na-ta dance in one of the patterns too complicated for them to learn yet. He was reasonably sure that she couldn't read his mind. Why couldn't he think it, as long as it didn't harm anyone? As long as he kept the word there, no one needed to know, and nothing had to change.

Except it slipped out one day, as Lady Kel checked everything over _again_ before her trip to Fort Mastiff, running herself out on everyone else's already-solved problems. "Aye, Mother!" And Lady Kel got a funny look on her face that made his stomach flop.

He went bright red, trying to backtrack. "Meanin' no disres-"

"-And eat your vegetables," she ordered him with a smile that Tobe was rapidly coming to live for.

Plenty of the knights called her mother, some inside joke from the olden days when they were Tobe's age. He could easily play it off as having picked up the habit. Tobe was relieved. Nothing had to change.

It wasn't until after Haven had fallen, after that horrible night running to Mastiff and then all the way through Scanra after m-Lady Kel that Tobe realized things changed whether you wanted them to or not, and there was so much more to be scared of then just that.

Lady Kel was walking beside Peachblossom on the long road back home. Three children were squashed into the saddle. The horses were having a running competition to see who could carry the most children for the longest, and so far Peachblossom was winning, though Hoshi was saying his stubbornness would come back to bite him in the rump. Tobe kept one ear on their snide comments to one another as he watched Lady Kel listing down the road, the hand on the reigns more to keep herself up than to lead Peachblossom.

The gelding snorted. _You get her to stop_, he said with an ear-flick at Kel, _we're almost at the river anyway._

_Getting tired?_ taunted Magewhisper, Sir Neal's horse, _I can go all night._

_But your idiotic two-legger couldn't, _retorted Peachblossom. The mage was directly in his biting range, and he couldn't go for it with the children clinging to his mane.

_Both of you, stop it._ Tobe told them in the voice other two-leggers couldn't seem to hear.

Lady Kel turned blearily at his touch on her arm. "Tobe. Is your side hurting?"

It figured, that his lady would be worrying about that and not the hole in her shoulder. "The horses are tired," he lied, "They say we should rest now, and cross the river later."

"For once I agree with the monster!" Sir Neal said in a voice stretched with fatigue. Peachblossom eyed him, looking no less pleased with the thought.

Lady Kel swayed on her feet, still undecided. "We should try to go a little further…" she mumbled.

Gently, Tobe took the reins from her hands. The other horses were stopping now, between his magic and Peachblossom and Hoshi's warning looks. "Come on, mother."

She blinked at him again, and this time she saw that he meant it. Not like the other knights, he _really meant it_.

Tobe was too worn-out himself to even be worried. He just stood there and let her stare at him, ready to drag her off the road if he had to. Then she smiled and ruffled his hair. "Alright then. Let's set up camp."

Tomorrow he could play it off as exhaustion if he wanted to. Mithros knew there was enough of that fogging the minds around their camp. But maybe it would be better to see how it played out. After all this, Tobe figured they were due a _good_ change.

_One of my favorite non-romantic pairings! Any thoughts? _


End file.
